HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery sent 234 emails containing sexually explicit images or videos over more than three years, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the high court's chief justice.

The material was found among 2,800 emails received or sent by McCaffery between late 2008 and May 2012, according to a news release Chief Justice Ron Castille issued through the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

None of the court's six other justices, including Castille, was identified as having sent or receiving any sexually explicit emails, the review found. Castille proclaimed in the news release that his review "exonerates" six of the seven jurists. It noted the matter remains "under further review" by the court.

McCaffery sent 234 emails containing 1,502 sexually explicit images and 60 sexually explicit video files, some of which were duplicates, the review found. The cache included 700 to 800 unique images and about 45 unique videos.

The number of emails handled by McCaffery was higher than The Morning Call reported Oct. 2.

Records reviewed by The Morning Call earlier this month showed McCaffery, via a Comcast account, had forwarded at least eight sexually explicit emails to an employee in the attorney general's office who later shared them with other state employees.

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Randy Feathers, appointee to the Pennsylvania State Board of Probation & Parole.

Randy Feathers, appointee to the Pennsylvania State Board of Probation & Parole. (Pennsylvania State Board of Probation &, Pennsylvania State Board of Probation &)

Castille got the records from Attorney General Kathleen Kane, whose office found them on a computer server during a review of the office's prosecution of the Jerry Sandusky case. Kane showed a portion of those emails to the media Sept. 25 in response to requests made under the state Right-to-Know Law.

It is not publicly known how many sexually explicit emails exist or how many people received them.

The media showing involved emails received by eight former agency employees who held supervisory roles under then-Attorney General Tom Corbett before his 2010 election to governor.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffrey sent 234 emails containing sexually explicit images or videos over more than three years, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the high court's chief justice.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffrey sent 234 emails containing sexually explicit images or videos over more than three years, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the high court's chief justice. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

After the media showing, Corbett and Castille demanded Kane turn over records to their offices. Kane turned over redacted emails.

Castille had requested the names of all jurists who may have sent sexually explicit emails. He received records for the state Supreme Court. They show the justices sent 4,000 emails to the attorney general's office, but only McCaffery's emails included sexually explicit content.

McCaffery sent "the large majority of the emails" to an attorney general agent who has since retired, according to Castille's news release. The agent then forwarded the materials to numerous other individuals, the release says.

McCaffery's private lawyer, Dion Rassias, did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

On Oct. 2, Gene Stilp, a Harrisburg activist, filed a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Board, asking it to "conduct an inquiry" into whether McCaffery participated in the "receipt and distribution of pornographic materials."

The board agreed to do the inquiry, an early part of a multi-step process for examining whether a complaint has merit. The state Supreme Court also recently gave itself the power to be the final arbiter in overseeing conduct matters concerning jurists and court staff.

In statements made Sept. 29 during a phone interview with reporters, Castille said a judge should not be fraternizing too closely with either prosecutors or defense attorneys by sending personal emails of any kind. A judge could be in violation of judicial rules of conduct for sending pornographic emails on government-owned computers or personal computers, Castille said.

A majority of the Supreme Court's justices could vote to suspend or remove a judge for sharing sexually explicit material with state employees, Castille said in an Oct. 8 interview.

On Wednesday, Corbett's appointee to the state parole board left his post over the email scandal.

In a statement, Randy Feathers said he was "retiring" from the $115,932 position with the Board of Probation and Parole. The Senate appointed Feathers, a former supervising agent in the attorney general's office, to the board in 2012 at Corbett's request.

Feathers' decision came as the Senate prepared to vote on his removal from the board. Feathers had refused to resign as Corbett had requested Oct. 3.

In a letter to Corbett, Feathers maintained his innocence. He accused Kane of violating his due process rights by not letting his own computer forensic expert examine the 436 emails he allegedly received and the 39 he supposedly sent between 2008 and 2010.

Feathers also said he was leaving his position to protect the board and its employees from further embarrassment and distraction.

"It is essential to note that my retirement should not be taken as an acknowledgment of the degree of wrongdoing of which I have been accused by Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane," Feathers wrote. "I never initiated any of the referenced pornography nor did I ever view any pornographic videos."

As the supervising agent in the Altoona office, Feathers played a role in the Sandusky investigation. He had accused Kane, a Democrat, of disparaging law enforcement and hurting Sandusky's victims for her own political gain. During her campaign for attorney general, Kane claimed Corbett, a Republican, may have slow-walked the Sandusky investigation so it didn't interfere with Corbett's run for governor.

The eight men her office named in the email scandal either have worked in Corbett's administration or have criticized Kane's leadership style, prosecutorial decisions and her internal review of the grand jury investigation of Sandusky. Feathers was one of them.

"Kane's accusations, particularly the timing in relation to Gov. Tom Corbett's re-election, and subsequent to my hostile interaction during her Sandusky probe, are further proof the current accusations are politically motivated," Feathers wrote in his letter.

"If this current matter is the personal cost I must pay for putting Jerry Sandusky, a convicted pedophile who operated undetected for over 20 years, in prison for the remainder of his life, then I say the protection of the public is worth this personal ordeal," he wrote.

Including Feathers, five of the eight men have lost or quit their jobs in government or the private sector since being identified as receiving the emails.

Kane has refused to release the names of 30 current employees her office says will be disciplined for their role in the emailings.

•Chris Carusone was a deputy chief attorney general who ran the death penalty appeal unit. He received 52 emails and forwarded three, according to Kane's office.

Status: Resigned from private law firm.

•Richard Sheetz Jr. was executive deputy attorney general. He received 58 emails and did not forward any, according to Kane's office.

Status: Resigned from job with Lancaster County district attorney's office.

•Randy Feathers was head of investigations in the attorney general's Altoona office, which covers State College, where Jerry Sandusky lived. He is now retired. Feathers received 436 emails and forwarded 39, according to Kane's office.

Status: Retired from state Board of Probation and Parole.

•Frank Noonan, former head of investigations in the attorney general's office, now Pennsylvania State Police commissioner. He received 338 of the sexually explicit emails and forwarded none, according to Kane's office.

Status: Cleared by Gov. Tom Corbett

•Kevin Harley, Corbett's former communications director at the attorney general's office and governor's office. He is now a communications specialist with the Harrisburg firm Quantum Communications, which is helping with Corbett's re-election campaign. Harley received 29 emails and forwarded none, Kane's office said.

Status: No job status change.

•Patrick Blessington, former senior deputy attorney in the attorney general's office. Blessington received 39 emails and did not forward any, Kane's office said.